Michael Bond
Thomas Michael Bond CBE (January 13, 1926 - June 27, 2017) was a British author whose works include a series of humorous mystery novels, works of non-fiction that include a guidebook to Paris, an autobiography, short stories for adults and children and screenplays for every episode of three different children's television series. He is best known as the creator of Paddington Bear. Biography Michael Bond was the son of a post office manager. He was born in Newbury, Berkshire, England and raised in Reading. He attended Presentation College, Reading, an independent Catholic boys' school run by the Congregation of Presentation Brothers. Bond was unhappy at school and left at the age of fourteen. He worked at a lawyer's office for a year before becoming an engineer's assistant at the BBC. In 1943, at the age of seventeen, Bond volunteered to join the Royal Air Force. He was discharged when it was discovered that he suffered from acute air sickness. Bond spent the remainder of World War II as a soldier in the Middlesex Regiment of the British Army. He was discharged in 1947. It was while he was serving as a soldier in Cairo in 1945 that Bond submitted his first short story for publication. The story was published in the magazine London Opinion and Bond was paid seven pounds and seven shillings for it. After leaving the army, Bond returned to his job at the BBC. He worked as a cameraman, notably being part of the production crew for the popular children's program Blue Peter. He continued to write short stories and have them published. In 1958, Bond's children's novel A Bear Called Paddington was published. It was to be the first of fourteen novels about Paddington Bear that Bond wrote. The last title in the series Paddington's Finest Hour, was published fifty-nine years after A Bear Called Paddington in 2017. Bond also wrote ten picture books about Paddington Bear for younger children and thirteen short stories about the character that were collected into two anthologies. In 1965, Bond left his job at the BBC to become a full-time writer. In addition to the Paddington Bear books, Bond wrote a series of children's novels and picture books about a female guinea pig named Olga da Polga, children's books about a mouse named Thursday and a series of humorous novels for adults about a detective named Monsieur Pamplemousse that combine elements of mystery and food writing. Bond also wrote the screenplays for The Herbs, a thirteen episode 1968 stop motion animation children's TV series, and The Adventures of Parsley, a twelve episode 1970 stop motion animation series that was a spin-off of The Herbs. The screenplays for all fifty-six episodes of Paddington, a stop motion animation series that originally aired on British children's television between January 5, 1978 and April 18, 1980, were also written by Michael Bond. All of the episodes of the series were adapted, sometimes very loosely, from chapters in Bond's Paddington Bear books. Shortly after his 90th birthday, Bond wrote an essay called Reflection on the Passing of the Years. The essay was read aloud by David Attenborough (who was also 90 years-old at the time) at the national service of thanksgiving for the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II at St. Paul's Cathedral in June 2016. Michael Bond was married twice. He married Brenda Mary Johnson in 1950 and separated from her in the 1970s. In 1981, shortly after his divorce was finalized, Bond married Susan Marfrey Rogers. He had two children. In 1997, Bond was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to children's literature. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2015. Works Paddington Bear books Novels *''A Bear Called Paddington'' (1958) *''More About Paddington'' (1959) *''Paddington Helps Out'' (1960) *''Paddington Abroad'' (1961) *''Paddington at Large'' (1962) *''Paddington Marches On'' (1964) *''Paddington at Work'' (1966) *''Paddington Goes to Town'' (1968) *''Paddington Takes the Air'' (1970) *''Paddington on Top'' (1974) *''Paddington Takes the Test'' (1979) *''Paddington Here and Now'' (2008) *''Paddington Races Ahead'' (2012) *''Love from Paddington'' (2014) *''Paddington's Finest Hour'' (2017) Short story anthologies *''Paddington's Blue Peter Story Book'' (1973) *''Paddington on Screen'' (1980) Both books are made up of stories that had originally appeared in the ''Blue Peter'' annuals. Paddington's Blue Peter Story Book has occasionally been republished as Paddington Takes to TV. Picture books for younger readers *''Paddington's Garden'' (1972) *''Paddington at the Tower'' (1972) *''Paddington at the Zoo'' (1984) *''Paddington and the Knickerbocker Rainbow'' (1985) *''Paddington at the Palace'' (1986) *''Paddington's Magical Christmas'' (1988) *''Paddington Goes to Hospital'' (2001) *''Paddington and the Grand Tour'' (2003) *''Paddington Goes for Gold'' (2012) *''Paddington at St. Paul's'' (2017, published posthumously) Thursday books *''Here Comes Thursday'' (1966) *''Thursday Rides Again'' (1968) *''Thursday Ahoy!'' (1969) *''Thursday in Paris'' (1971) An omnibus edition entitled A Mouse Called Thursday was published in 1988. Olga da Polga books Novels *''The Tales of Olga da Polga'' (1971) *''Olga Meets Her Match'' (1973) *''Olga Carries On'' (1976) *''Olga Takes Charge'' (1982) *''Olga Moves House'' (2001) *''Olga Follows Her Nose'' (2002) Three omnibus editions were published, The Complete Adventures of Olga da Polga in 1982, The Adventures of Olga da Polga in 1993 and The Best of Olga da Polga in 2002. Picture books for younger readers *''Olga Counts her Blessings'' (1973) *''Olga Meets a Friend'' (1973) *''Olga Makes a Wish'' (1975) *''Olga Takes a Bite'' (1975) *''Olga's New Home'' (1975) *''Olga's Second House'' (1975) *''Olga's Special Day'' (1975) Two omnibus editions, The First Big Olga da Polga Book and The Second Big Olga da Polga Book, were published in 1983. Monsieur Pamplemousse novels *''Monsieur Pamplemousse'' (1983) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Secret Mission'' (1985) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse on the Spot'' (1986) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse Takes the Cure'' (1987) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse Aloft'' (1989) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse Investigates'' (1990) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse Rests his Case'' (1991) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse Stands Firm'' (1992) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse on Location'' (1992) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse Takes the Train'' (1993) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse Afloat'' (1999) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse on Probation'' (2002) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse on Vacation'' (2002) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse Hits the Headlines'' (2003) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Militant Midwives'' (2006) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the French Solution'' (2007) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Cartoon Footprint'' (2011) *''Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Tangled Web'' (2015) Three omnibus editions were published. Monsieur Pamplemousse Omnibus Volume One was published in 1998. Monsieur Pamplemousse Omnibus Volume Two and Monsieur Pamplemousse Omnibus Volume Three were published in 1999. Other books right|thumb|200px|A sculpture depicting Michael Bond and Paddington Bear in Saint Mary's Square, Paddington, London. *''Michael Bond's Book of Bears'' (1971, editor) *''The Day the Animals Went on Strike'' (1972) *''Windmill'' (1975) *''How to Make Flying Things'', a non-fiction book (1975) *''Mr. Cram's Magic Bubbles'', a picture book (1975) *''Picnic on the River'' (1980) *''J.D. Poison and the Liberty Head Dime'' (1980) *''J.D. Poison and the Dillogate Affair'' (1981) *''The Caravan Puppets'' (1983) *''Oliver the Greedy Elephant'', a picture book co-written with Paul Parnes (1986) *''The Pleasures of Paris'', a guidebook (1987) *''Something Nasty in the Kitchen'', a picture book (1992) *''Bears and Forebears: A Life So Far'', an autobiography (1996) External links *Michael Bond on the official Paddington Bear website. *Quotations from and about Michael Bond on Wikiquote. es:Michael Bond Category:Autobiography Authors Category:Childrens Authors Category:Comedy Authors Category:Essayists Category:Fantasy Authors Category:Fiction Authors Category:Mystery Authors Category:Non-Fiction Authors Category:Screenwriters Category:Travel Writers Category:Editors